The Capture
by suzie2b
Summary: The Rat Patrol gets taken prisoner … or were they?


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **The Capture**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **Troy sat on the cot in the cell he occupied alone. He'd been listening to voices of his men as they were being interrogated—or rather tortured. Their refusals to talk and cries of pain were unmistakable. Troy buried his face in his hands and tried unsuccessfully to shut the sounds out.**

 **It had been a full week since the Rat Patrol had been ambushed and forced into a dead-end where cliffs and boulders formed a kind of canyon. They were outnumbered and there was no escape, but they fought until there was nothing left to fight with.**

 **German Captain Hans Ludwig paraded the four bound Allies across their base to headquarters, where they were put in front of Colonel Graf. "At last we have you! Your days of causing us trouble are finished!" There was no comment from the prisoners so the colonel continued, "After I have the answers I require, Sergeant Troy, you will watch your men as they are executed … one-by-one. And then you will live with that vision in your memory until the day you die in a German POW camp."**

 **Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully were placed in a cell together. Troy was separated, walked to another room, which was obviously where the interrogations would take place, and put into an isolated cell. When the door slammed closed behind him, Troy was in darkness, save for a 4x4 inch opening over the door. He expected to be the first to be questioned, but sometime later he heard a scuffling sound and a familiar voice say, "Hitchcock, Mark T. Private First Class. 14836285."**

 **Troy listened as each of his men were questioned and felt a sense of pride at the fact they refused to talk beyond name, rank, and serial number. However, as the days passed, and the ritual was repeated over and over, he listened to the beatings, the cries and groans of pain that could no longer be held back and wished they would just tell the Germans what they wanted to know.**

 **Troy was never questioned. He was given bread and water once a day, but was never out of his cell.**

 **##################**

 **When the interrogations weren't going on the light outside his cell was turned off and the darkness was complete. The silence was deafening … and Troy thought about death. He could easily hang himself from the rafter he could see when the light came in over the door. He still had his belt, he could stand on the cot… Then he would see Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully in his mind. He couldn't do that to them.**

 **And then one day, Troy saw the light come in above the door and waited for the torture to begin again, but then his cell was opened and he was forced out into the light. He had to squeeze his eyes closed against the searing brightness. When he opened them again, he looked around the room. There was blood on the floor around the lone chair his men had been shackled to.**

 **Captain Ludwig said, "The time has come, Sergeant Troy." The sergeant turned his head slowly to see the captain, but remained silent. "You can be proud of your men. They did not divulge any useful information." Troy sighed as he glowered hatefully at Ludwig as the captain said, "Bring him. It's time he saw his men."**

 **Troy was escorted out of the building and across the square in front of headquarters. They were walking towards a brick wall about ten feet high with a firing squad standing at attention nearby. And then he saw them … his men. Battered, bruised, bleeding, swollen. Barely able to stand on their own. They looked back at him as Troy and his escorts walked by.**

 **When his guards stopped him, Troy found himself standing next to Colonel Graf, who said, "Lovely afternoon, don't you think, sergeant?"**

 **Troy looked up at the sun and said, "I guess … if you're into that sort of thing, sir."**

" **Now, out of respect for you and your men, I am going to allow you to choose who will go before the wall first."**

 **Troy shook his head and growled, "I won't do that."**

 **Graf smiled. "Very well. Captain Ludwig, escort Private Pettigrew to his place at the wall, please."**

 **Tully went quietly, stood as straight as the pain would let him against the brick. Captain Ludwig pinned a small target to Tully's chest. The private looked at it, then at the captain, and then mumbled through bloodied, swollen lips, "Afraid they might miss?"**

 **Ludwig said nothing. He offered a blindfold, but Tully shook his head. The captain walked over to where the firing squad waited. "Bereit!" The men readied their weapons. "Ziel!" They aimed at the target. Tully looked at Troy and winked one swollen eye before again facing his executioners with his head held high. "Feuer!" The rifles were fired in unison. Tully jerked back and slid down to the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the wall behind him.**

 **Troy swallowed as he tried desperately to hide the emotions he was feeling.**

 **Colonel Graf said, "Private Hitchcock, you are next!"**

 **Captain Ludwig took Hitch by the arm, but the private pulled out of the grasp and spat angrily, "Don't touch me."**

 **Hitch stood next to his friend's crumpled body. A target was pinned to his chest, a blindfold was offered and refused. The captain went back to his men. "Bereit!" Hitch took a deep breath and looked at Troy, then back at the firing squad. "Ziel!" Hitch drew himself up to full attention in spite of the pain in his injured back. "Feuer!" The young private collapsed to the ground and didn't move.**

 **Colonel Graf called out, "All right, Sergeant Moffitt! You are the last!"**

 **Before Captain Ludwig could move to get the sergeant, Moffitt walked stoically to stand next to his fallen comrades. "Don't bother asking, I won't need a blindfold." The captain took a paper target out of a pocket and Moffitt said with all the English haughtiness he could muster, "Really … if they haven't figured it out by now, I sincerely doubt they ever will."**

 **As soon as the sergeant was standing in front of the wall, Ludwig started, "Bereit!" Moffitt looked down at his dead friends sadly. "Ziel!"**

 **Moffitt looked at Troy and gave him a nod. "Take care of yourself, old man."**

" **Feuer!" And then it was all over.**

 **Colonel Graf had a self-satisfied smile on his face as he said, "Well, that is that, Sergeant Troy. I will let you dwell on this for a time before we begin to question you. However, I will order my men to take it easy on you. I want you to live. When German High Command is told of this, I am sure to receive a commendation."**

 **Troy was devastated and angry as he balled his hands into fists and stared at the bodies of his friends. There was nothing left for him. With one fluid move Troy grabbed the colonel's sidearm from its holster and put his arm around the officer's neck from behind. He put the barrel of the pistol to the side of Graf's head. "You'll have to collect that commendation posthumously, colonel."**

 **Graf said, "Now, sergeant, what is the point to this? If you kill me, my men will be forced to shoot you."**

" **That's the idea."**

 **Colonel Graf looked at Captain Ludwig and calmly said, "No matter what he does** _ **do not**_ **kill him. Do you understand, captain?"**

 **Ludwig nodded. "Yes, sir."**

" **There you have it, sergeant. You will live to go to a POW camp."**

 **Troy said, "No, colonel, I won't." He moved too quickly to be stopped without injuring the commanding officer. Troy took the barrel of the gun off Graf, put it to his own temple and pulled the trigger.**

 **##################**

 **There was a sudden, painfully bright flash of light and Troy opened his eyes with a gasp. Above him stood a nurse … an American nurse … with a penlight in her hand that she'd been checking his pupils with. She smiled and said, "Well, it's about time you woke up, Sergeant Troy. Now just be still while I check your vitals and give you a pain killer."**

 **A minute later the nurse was gone. A familiar voice said quietly, "Nice to have you back, sarge."**

 **Troy turned his head and looked at Hitch as the private sat down next to him. "Hitch? You're alive."**

" **I took a bullet in the arm." Hitch smiled as he adjusted the sling his left arm was in. "It wasn't all that serious."**

 **Troy asked urgently, "Where's Moffitt and Tully? Are they all right?"**

" **They're fine, sarge. They should be back from patrol in a while." Hitch gave the sergeant a concerned look as he said, "What's wrong?"**

" **What happened after we got trapped in that canyon?"**

" **We managed to put up a fight until First Lieutenant Cooper and his platoon showed up. They heard the fighting and decided to investigate. Glad they did, because I'm not sure we could've gotten out of that one on our own. You got hit three times, sarge. We almost lost you, but there was a medic with Cooper's platoon. He managed to keep you alive until we got here."**

 **Troy asked, "Where's here?"**

 **Hitch replied, "A field hospital."**

" **How long?"**

" **It's been a week, sarge. You were in bad shape."**

 **Troy started to relax a little. "And you're sure Moffitt and Tully are okay?"**

 **Hitch nodded. "They were fine when the left here this morning. The commander here just wanted them to go out with a scout patrol."**

" **When they get back, I want to see them immediately."**

" **Right, sarge. I'm sure they'll check on you as soon as they get here." Troy gave a nod and felt the tug of sleep as Hitch said, "You just rest. I'll be right here if you need anything."**

 **Troy sighed as he quietly said, "A dream. It was just a dream."**

" **A dream, sarge?"**

 **Troy closed his eyes. "Yeah, maybe I'll tell you about it someday. Maybe…"**


End file.
